To make your caramel, you must first sunbathe on the concrete driveway on a sunny afternoon. Place a bucket beside you to collect your melting fat. Treat burns with antibiotics and CeraVe, and see the beauty you’ve become in the mirror. Then go to the kitchen. 

Place the fat in the saucepan. Watch what has caused you so much pain turn to nothing. Sweeten it. Let it burn in front of your eyes. Add salt, be careful so it doesn’t get on your burns. When it begins to boil over, take it off the heat, dump milk and more sugar in to thicken. Place it in the fridge

After an hour has passed, come back and look into the pan again. The mixture has solidified, and you’re mesmerized by the swirls across the surface made by the whisk. 

It looks like skin. Its cells multiply with every dreaded look at yourself. With every shred of guilt after a meal. With almost every thought you’ve had since you realized you had a body. But it’s okay, this is how everyone makes caramel. Go serve it on cookies or cake, maybe both. Try not to think about how every bite you take is another step backwards towards what you’re desperate to escape.